Novelists, poets, and dramatists, within the African American literary tradition, have explored and examined the complicated nature of the relationships between black men and black women. Many have depicted interactions characterized by scorn and hatred while others have focused on amorous relationships imbued with deep love and affection. Yet Morrison employs the kind of 'womanist' insight and believes that the relationships between African American men and African American women must be understood not only in terms of the intersections of gender and race but also with respect to their participation in a larger, historically racist culture.Regardless of the nature of their couploings, this paper is going to analyzeBeloved (1987) to determinethe…show more content… Keywords: Morrison, Beloved, Male Gaze, African American Women/Men
Introduction
Though many critics have accused Morrison and her contemporaries like Alice Walker and Gloria Naylor of creating women who emotionally and psychically castrate their men, Morrison has proven time and again to offer more critical, balanced portraits not only of African American women but of the men who have struggled alongside them.Morrison’s Beloved (1987) shows us the history of black men and black women from antebellum period and it explores how African American men and African American women have consistently affirmed the power of black love even in times of great tragedy, upheaval, and revolution.It also discusses the pivotal role that Black men play in the construction of African American femininity. By focuing on Beloved it also becomes clear how she has consistently revisited the theme of the power of the male gaze and how it aids in the construction and/or deconstruction of African American femininity.Though the majority of the relationships explored in Beloved suggest the angst that exists within the couplings between black men and black women, they also exemplify moments between black men and black women, fathers and daughters, and brothers and sisters that are filled with love, compassion, and mutual respect and affection. It demands that t we consider those reciprocal, loving,…show more content… Stephanie M. Camp notes that "enslavement . . . meant cultural alienation, reduction to the status of property, the ever-present threat of sale, denial of the fruits of one's labor, and subjugation to the force, power, and will of another human being. It entailed the strictest control of the physical and social mobility of enslaved people . . ." (12), So the slaves' desire to cultivate "any sense of a true home became risky and seldom realized" (Bracks 60). Yet in the novel, there were those who used the notion of home and the ties of family to resist the emotional, spiritual, and psychological brutality of slavery. Unfortunately, many of these attempts weren’t successfuly and they all ended up with tragedy and